Gina Bianchini's New Venture Tries To Change The World One Step At A Time

The founder and former CEO of Ning is launching her newest venture, Mightybell, in limited beta Thursday as both a website and an iPhone/iPad app.

"The site is based on a simple idea, which is that you are what you do," Bianchini tells us over the phone. "People of action think big but break anything down into a series of small steps and you make anything doable."

Mightybell allows anyone to create an experience and break it down into easily followed steps. A 10-day trip to Alaska becomes 1) buy gear, 2) board the plane, 3) hike in a specific national park, 4) climb a specific mountain, and so on. A user checks off each subsequent step and can see the progress of others participating in the same experience.

Like with any good social software app, there are plenty of ways to encourage fellow users to keep going. Mightybell feels a little like The Daily Mile, except instead of keeping solely to running, it is lightweight and broad.

The focus of Mightybell, however, is the creators. Analytics allow a creator to see how people are finding the experience (Facebook, Twitter, email blasts, etc.) as well as the users who are recruiting the most active participants to the experience. Users are asked to rank each step - whether it made them happy, bored, excited, etc. - and a creator receives this information so he or she can retroactively refine a step to make it better.

"There is nothing out there that allows people to see the impact of their ideas in a really visceral way," Bianchini says.

More in depth analytics are one way Bianchini hopes to monetize the site. She believes there is value in knowing what motivates people to train for a triathlon, find a job, or travel to Alaska. Mightybell is also launching with an option of creating premium experiences, and they will take a 25% transaction fee. Finally, Bianchini hopes there are some possibilities around e-commerce. The 15 items one needs to travel in Alaska could be purchased through a link (or through the site itself), and Mighty Bell would receive a percentage.

The idea is an interesting one. Will people get excited about step-by-step instructions for accomplishing seemingly random tasks (even if they can choose said tasks)? Bianchini thinks so. We're not entirely sure - especially when it comes to spending money on those instructions - but we're willing to see where it goes. If this type of site can work, Mightybell is going to work. It's simply, easily, and smartly designed.

Mightybell currently consists of Bianchini, eight other people, and a summer intern. It is funded by a seed round she raised earlier this year led by Floodgate. The Founder's Collective also participated.